The invention relates to a vehicle having a plurality of electronic detection devices.
Current motor vehicles have increasingly an operator control unit, which is formed separately by a display unit, in the area of the center console. Such an operator control unit is known, for example, from EP 0893750 B1. In this case, the operator control unit has a switching element which can be rotated bidirectionally about an axis of symmetry and, therefore, is mounted so as to be axially moveable (pressable) and swivellable. Hence, by rotating, pressing and/or swivelling the switching element it is possible, for example, to mark and select menu points on a display unit or to adjust parameters.
Similarly, it is known to adjust the zoom factor, in particular the display scale, of a road map display of a motor vehicle navigation system by rotating such an operator control unit. The term “zoom” also includes the term “display scale change” within the scope of the invention.
Moreover, there exist electronic detection devices for motor vehicles. They include, for example, a sensor device and a control or processing device, and are made available for detecting, monitoring or controlling vehicle components or areas inside and outside the motor vehicle.
Some examples are driver assistance systems, check control systems, near field detection systems, etc. For example, if such a system detects an error or a critical state, a control light is automatically activated, or another monitoring signal is sent.
In addition or as an alternative, it is known to give a user the possibility of accessing information, made available by a detection device, by way of an operator control element, for example, a push button. Such access to driver assistance information, check control information and/or information relating to the surroundings can also take place by selecting a menu point by means of an aforementioned operator control unit.
In particular, the manual access to vehicle-related information that is made available by the detection devices is usually complicated and is not designed so as to be intuitive. Moreover, in the past the various vehicle-related information items, such as information items of the navigation system, information items of the driver assistance system and the check control information items, were accessed in non-uniform ways, in particular, by means of different operator control elements and display units.
Working on the basis of the aforesaid, the object of the invention is to provide an improved motor vehicle.
This and other objects are achieved by a motor vehicle having a plurality of electronic detection devices for detecting and making available vehicle-related information items, wherein the vehicle-related information items relate to various areas or components outside or inside the motor vehicle. The motor vehicle includes a display unit for displaying the vehicle-related information items, an operator control device for detecting an operator control action, and a control unit. The control unit is configured and coupled with the detection devices, the display unit and the operator control device such that, in a first display operating state, the first vehicle-related information items and a first graphics object, which represents the motor vehicle, are displayed. In a second display operating state, the second vehicle-related information items and a second graphics object, which represents the motor vehicle, are displayed. The first graphics object, which represents the motor vehicle, is larger than the second, and switching between the first and the second display operating states is brought about by way of an operator control action.
A preferred motor vehicle has a plurality of electronic detection devices for detecting and making available vehicle-related information items, wherein the vehicle-related information items relate to various areas or components outside or inside the motor vehicle.
Some examples of detection devices include the following:
(1) Near field detection systems for making available information about the near surroundings (for example, the surroundings, which lie inside a circle about the center of the vehicle at a radius of 20 meters) of the motor vehicle. For example, information about impediments when parking or impediments when getting out of the vehicle are sent as vehicle-related information items.
(2) Tire monitoring system for making available information about the vehicle tires. For example, information about the air pressure of the tire or the remaining tread life of the tire are made available as the vehicle-related information items.
(3) Operating substance monitoring systems for making available information about the fill level of the operating substance containers. For example, information about the fill level of the washing fluid container, the motor oil container, the brake fluid container, etc. is made available as the vehicle-related information items.
(4) Systems for monitoring the degree of wear and making available information about the degree of abrasive wear of vehicle components. For example, information about the degree of wear of the vehicle brake components, etc. is made available as vehicle-related information items.
The vehicle-related information items can be displayed on a display unit. An operator control action can be detected by use of an operator control device. A control unit is configured and coupled with the detection devices, the display unit and the operator control device such that: in a first display operating state the first vehicle-related information items and a first graphics object (motor vehicle-graphics object), which represents the motor vehicle, are displayed (for example, a simplified top view display of a motor vehicle); in a second display operating state the second vehicle-related information items and a second graphics object, which represents the motor vehicle, are displayed; the first graphics object, which represents the motor vehicle, is larger than the second, especially with respect to the display size; and switching between the first and the second display operating states is brought about by means of an especially predefined operator control action.
As a result, a number of different detection devices are coupled with the motor vehicle-graphics objects of various size. This approach enables a more appropriate display, based on the motor vehicle-graphics object, of the vehicle-related information items. In addition, a “zooming” of the graphics object is combined with an intuitive switching between the detection devices and the associated vehicle-related information items. Thus, the zoom effect of the user's operator control action that the user can recognize by the different sizes of the motor vehicle-graphics objects is coupled with a “zooming” through the vehicle-related information items. Hence, the result of switching between the detection devices or the vehicle-related information items is an intuitive “zooming” through various detection devices or vehicle-related information items. This approach simplifies the targeted manual access to specific vehicle-related information items from a large amount of vehicle-related information items and, at the same time, makes this access fast, reliable and intuitive.
Preferably the second vehicle-related information items relate to an area or a component outside or inside the motor vehicle that is at a greater distance from the center of the motor vehicle than the area or the component, to which the first vehicle-related information items relate. This correlation does not have to be implemented seamlessly or invariably without exceptions.
Consequently, components or areas that are further away are coupled with the smaller graphics object, representing the motor vehicle, and vice versa. A graphics object that gets smaller communicates to the user that those vehicle-related information items are now being displayed that relate to components or areas that are further away. A graphics object that gets larger communicates to the user that those vehicle-related information items are now being displayed that relate to components or areas that are arranged closer to the center of the vehicle.
Preferably in an additional, in particular a third, display operating state, for example, a zoom operating state, a navigation operating state or a road map display state, the predefined operator control action changes the display scale of a road map display. The road map display can be made available by means of a well-known navigation system.
Thus, in this additional display operating state a well-known operator control action, in particular a zoom operator control action, produces a well-known zoom effect, which relates to a road map display. This same operator control action, in particular the zoom operator control action, brings about a switch-over, as described above, between different detection devices or vehicle-related information items. This feature reinforces even more the transfer of the zoom idea to the switching between different detection devices or vehicle-related information items. This approach simplifies even more the targeted manual access to desired vehicle-related information items.
Preferably, in the second display operating state, the operator control action brings about a switch-over into a zoom operating state, in that the display unit displays a road map display; and in that the display scale of the road map display is changed by means of an additional operator control action.
In the first and the second display operating states, the road map display is preferably not displayed by the display unit.
The aforesaid makes it possible to switch by way of consecutive operator control actions—in particular, zoom operator control actions—from a first display operating state (display of vehicle-related information items that relate to a component or an area close to the center of the vehicle; large display of the motor vehicle-graphics object), first of all, into a second display operating state (display of vehicle-related information items that relate to a component or an area that is arranged farther away from the center of the vehicle than the component or the area of the first display operating state; smaller display of the motor vehicle-graphics object), and then to switch into a third display operating state, in particular, a zoom operating state, in that the display unit shows a road map display, and in that the display scale of the road map display is changed by way of an additional operator control action, in particular a zoom operator control action. Preferably, the third operating state shows a motor vehicle-graphics object, which advantageously, especially with respect to the display size, is even smaller than the motor vehicle-graphics object, assigned to the second display operating state.
In this way the zoom concept, known from a road map display, is transferred and expanded to include a motor vehicle-graphics object display, wherein the zooming through the motor vehicle-graphics object display is linked to the display of various vehicle-related information items. In this case the zoom idea is transferred to the display of various vehicle-related information items, since as the display of the motor vehicle-graphics object is enlarged, little-by-little different vehicle-related information items are displayed that relate to various components or areas.
The larger the display of the motor vehicle-graphics object, the closer the component or the area, which is described by the vehicle-related information items, is to the center of the motor vehicle.
Preferably, the first and the second (and optionally the third) graphics objects representing the motor vehicle are in essence identical in terms of shape, contour, and/or the display position on the display unit. This feature communicates the zoom idea even better to a user.
Preferably, those areas or components, to which the displayed vehicle-related information items relate, are displayed on the display unit in such a way that corresponding component-graphics objects or area-graphics objects are marked, especially highlighted or displayed in detail, on the display unit. The location of the component-graphics objects or the area-graphics objects relative to the motor vehicle-graphics object corresponds to the location of the components or areas relative to the center of the motor vehicle.
One operator control action or the operator control actions, in particular the zoom operator control action, comprises preferably a rotation of a rotary element about a predefined angle of rotation, in particular a predefined direction of rotation.
The scope of the invention also includes a motor vehicle comprising a plurality of electronic detection devices for detecting and making available vehicle-related information, wherein the vehicle-related information relates to various areas or components outside or inside the motor vehicle. The motor vehicle includes a display unit for displaying vehicle-related information items and a graphics object, which represents the motor vehicle, an operator control device for detecting an operator control action, and a control unit. The control unit is configured and coupled to the detection devices, the display unit and the operator control device such that consecutive identical operator control actions allow the user to page through a variety of vehicle-related information items (are displayed one after the other on the display unit), wherein the paging through the various vehicle-related information items is coupled to a change in the display scale of a graphics object, which represents the motor vehicle and is displayed on the display unit. Preferably, it is also within the scope of the invention that the inventive coupling of the paging and the change in the display scale is implemented only partially, for example, with respect to a part of the vehicle-related information items that are displayed.
Preferably, the paging through the various vehicle-related information items is coupled with a consecutive marking of component-graphics objects or area-graphics objects on the display unit, wherein the component-graphics objects or the area-graphics objects relate to the components or the areas, to which the displayed vehicle-related information items relate.
It is a further development of the invention that the location of the component-graphics objects or the area-graphics objects relative to the graphics object, representing the motor vehicle, corresponds to the location of the components or areas relative to the center of the motor vehicle.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.